Rinaldo and the Magus of Ascalon, 1742/45

The fourth and final large narrative canvas from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s decorative suite takes place as Rinaldo rejoins the crusader army. As a consequence, it stresses the moral element of the story of Rinaldo and Armida. The boat bringing the knight from Armida’s island seems to have just deposited him and his companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, on the coast of Palestine. Here the magician of Ascalon uses Rinaldo’s shield to conjure up the heroic deeds of his ancestors, urging him to live up to their examples. Rinaldo appears more confident and mature than he does in the earlier canvases in the sequence, perhaps to serve as an example to the young member of the Cornaro family for whom the salon was splendidly redecorated.

Ownership History

One of four scenes from Tasso made for the 'gabinetto degli specchi' of the Palazzo Corner a San Polo, Venice [according to inventories and other documents discussed by Romanelli 1998]. Count Giovanni Serbelloni, Venice in 1838, by descent, until possibly 1886 [Molmenti 1911 and Knox 1978]. Giulio Cartier, Genoa by 1908 [Malaquzzi Valeri 1908]; Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, in 1912 [Ojetti 1912]; James Deering (died 1925), Vizcaya, from 1913 [information sheet in curatorial file]; bequeathed,1925.